PAGE 16 | April 21, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Six questions for labor’s top workplace safety expert
Peg Seminario, the AFL-CIO’s director of oc-
cupational safety and
health, is a nationally
recognized expert on
worker safety. She has a
masters degree in in-
dustrial hygiene from
Harvard, and has
worked for the AFL-CIO
since 1977. The Labor
Press interviewed her by phone April 12.
What can you tell us so far about the
Trump administration’s record on
worker safety? Already we’ve seen the
Trump administration repeal two impor-
tant workplace safety rules. They’ve pro-
posed the elimination of funding for
worker safety and health training pro-
grams. They’ve proposed the elimina-
tion of the Chemical Safety Board. And
they’ve proposed slashing the job safety
research budget. Andrew Puzder, as the
first nominee for secretary of labor, ob-
viously caused great concern given the
record of his company, wage violations
as well as workplace safety, and his pub-
lic positions on labor matters. So we
were glad to see him withdraw. Alex
Acosta, who has now been nominated,
has a better history when it comes to
government service. But we remain con-
cerned: During his confirmation hear-
ings, he refused to commit to fully im-
plementing important safety and health
rules, including OSHA’s new silica rule.
Speaking of which, on April 6, OSHA
announced that it’s not going to en-
force the new crystalline silica rule in
the construction industry until Sept.
23, 2017, three months later than pre-
viously scheduled. For those who
aren’t familiar, can you explain what
the silica rule is in a nutshell? It’s a re-
ally critical safety and health protection
that the unions fought for for decades.
The rule would cut the permissible ex-
posure to silica in half, in general indus-
try, and by even more in construction. It
would also require employers to use
controls —such as wet methods, wetting
down the dust, or vacuum attachments
and ventilation — to limit workers’ ex-
posure to the dust. With the reductions
in exposure from the new rule, hundreds
of workers’ lives will be saved every
year.
Do you think the delay is political, and
is there danger the new silica rules
could be scrapped altogether? We are
very concerned. President Trump ran on
a platform of deregulation. And he has
been clear that he’s going to keep that
promise. He has issued several executive
orders that are intended to roll back reg-
ulation. He has an executive order that
says for every new protection issued,
two protections must be taken off the
books. I say 1 minus 2 is a negative
number. That means less protection for
workers, and that’s not good. Another
executive order directs all agencies to
look at all existing rules to see which are
burdensome on business or too costly,
and to propose rules for elimination or
weakening. There is nothing in his
agenda that is directed toward improving
protections for workers. His budget pro-
posal also included a 21 percent cut in
the Department of Labor. We don’t
know how that’s going to be distributed,
because the details haven’t been re-
leased, but we know that a 21 percent cut
at OSHA would decimate their enforce-
ment activities. It would lead to more in-
juries and illnesses and deaths.
A new rule about workers who are ex-
posed to beryllium has also been
pushed back two months. Can you ex-
plain also what beryllium is, who’s at
risk, and what the rule does? Beryl-
lium is a toxic metal. It’s used particu-
larly in making nuclear weapons, air-
craft, certain machining operations. Its
use is much more limited than it was in
the past because it’s so toxic. The new
rule reduces exposure. This is a rule that
took nearly 20 years for OSHA to issue.
The rule ultimately came as a result of a
joint proposal by the Steelworkers union
and the beryllium industry. But now, see-
A second home
Work somewhere long enough, and your co-workers become like family.
That’s why workplace safety and health matters. On Worker Memorial Day,
we remember those who lost their lives on the job and rededicate ourselves
to making Oregon the safest and healthiest place to work.
Worker Memorial Day
| April 28, 2017
ing a different political environment,
some in the industry are trying to
weaken the standard. And you’ve seen
the Trump administration delay the ef-
fective date.
President Trump also signed a law,
passed by the Republican Congress,
that overturns a new OSHA rule
about employer records of injuries
and illnesses. What that’s about? It
was a very simple OSHA rule was issued
in December that would clarify employ-
ers’ obligation to keep accurate injury
records. This is a requirement that has
been on the books since 1971. But a
court decision had found that … OSHA’s
record-keeping rule wasn’t clear…. So
OSHA clarified the rule. It didn’t change
anything. It just says employers have to
record injuries and illnesses in the work-
place, those records have to be accurate,
they have to be kept five years, and dur-
ing that five-year period if OSHA comes
in and inspects and finds that there were
violations on those records, they can
cite. But even this was too much for Re-
publicans in Congress, and Trump. Re-
publicans voted to overturn the rule, and
the president signed it. What that means
is that when OSHA goes in workplaces,
they’re no longer going to be able to
hold employers accountable who had
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